Abstract
This paper is devoted to the analyses of sound-scape at fontana di Trevi in Rome (Italy) with the aim to compare its characteristics during the Italian lockdown due to the (Sars-COV2) Covid-19 sanitary emergency and its characteristics before and after such time. The lockdown has represented an exceptional environment due to the silence everywhere, never occurred in centuries, offering the opportunity to recognize the “signature” of the sound emitted by the famous Fontana di Trevi and recognize how it interacts with other features. The signature is important for preservation issues and cultural heritage. The soundscape was documented in a field survey by means of hand held microphones, which acquired simultaneously the acoustic wavefield all around the fountain. We find that the spectral content depends on the microphone location, revealing a very complex wavefield, showing strong amplitudes during the lockdown well below 1kHz and a frequency band extending up to 10kHz. In a time period far from the lockdown, we evidence an additional frequency band around 700-1kHz, which not simply adds to the previous spectrum, but acts as a synchronization mechanism. The important observation is that the Covid-19 silence let emerge sounds that had been there for centuries, and afforded us the possibility to document them in order to study objectively a “soundprint”. Moreover, we studied the spatialization characteristics of the soundfield.
References
[1] Akinci T.C., Seker S., Dursun E., Kilic O., Noise identification based on spectral analysis and noisy transfer function approach for fuel cells, Noise Mapp., 2020, 7, 14-20.10.1515/noise-2020-0002Search in Google Scholar
[2] Al-Musawi T.T.A., Ph.D. thesis, Acoustical design of water features and their use for road traffic noise masking, School of the Built Environment, Heriot-watt University, Edinburgh, UK, 2012.Search in Google Scholar
[3] Brambilla G., Il contributo del soundscape alla tutela e valorizzazione del paesaggio rurale (The potential of the soundscape approach for the protection and valorization of the rural land scape, Riv. it. di acust., 2015, 39, 2, pp. 1-12 ISSN: 2385-2615 www.acustica-aia.it.Search in Google Scholar
[4] Blauert J., Spatial Hearing: The psychophysics of human sound Localization, The MIT Press, rev. ed., 1996.10.7551/mitpress/6391.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
[5] Canevet G., La localisation auditive des sons dans l’espace, In: Genevois, H., Orlary, Y., Le son et l’espace. Lyon: GRAME/Aleas E’diteur. Collection Musique et Sciences. Sous la direction de Yann ORLAREY. P., 1998, 15-32.Search in Google Scholar
[6] Capuano P., De Lauro E., De Martino S., Falanga M., Water-level oscillations in the Adriatic Sea as coherent self-oscillations inferred by independent component analysis, Prog. Oceanogr., 2011, 91, 447-460.10.1016/j.pocean.2011.06.001Search in Google Scholar
[7] Capuano P., DeLauro E., De Martino S., Falanga M., Detailed investigation of Long-Period activity at Campi Flegrei by Convolutive Independent Component Analysis, Phys. Earth Planet. Int., 2016, 253, 48-57.10.1016/j.pepi.2016.02.003Search in Google Scholar
[8] Capuano P., DeLauro E., De Martino S., Falanga M., Petrosino S., Convolutive independent component analysis for processing massive datasets: a case study at Campi Flegrei (Italy), Nat. Hazards, 2017, 86(2), 417-429.10.1007/s11069-016-2545-0Search in Google Scholar
[9] Conticini E., Frediani B., Caro D., Can atmospheric pollution be considered a co-factor in extremely high level of SARS-CoV-2 lethality in Northern Italy?, Environmental pollution, 2020 114465.10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114465Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
[10] Cusano P., Petrosino S., De Lauro E., Falanga M., The whisper of the hydrothermal seismic noise at Ischia Island, J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 2020, 389,106693.10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2019.106693Search in Google Scholar
[11] De Lauro E., De Martino S., Falanga M., Palo M., Scarpa R., Evidence of VLP volcanic tremor in the band [0.2-2]Hz at Stromboli volcano, Italy, Geophys. Res. Lett., 2005, 32, L17303.10.1029/2005GL023466Search in Google Scholar
[12] De Lauro E., De Martino S., Falanga M., Palo M., Statistical analysis of Stromboli VLP tremor in the band[0.1-0.5]Hz: some consequence in vibrating structure, Nonlin. Proc. Geophys., 2006, 13, 393-400.10.5194/npg-13-393-2006Search in Google Scholar
[13] De Lauro E., Falanga M., Tedeschini Lalli L., Physical mechanisms associated with the soundscape: Trevi fountain case study, 19th Conf. Appl. Math., APLIMAT 2020 Proc., 2020, 326-334.Search in Google Scholar
[14] D’Onofrio C., Le Fontane Di Roma, Staderini Ed., Roma, 1957.Search in Google Scholar
[15] Garza F.J.E., Mederez A.G., Guerra-Torres C., Ledezma- Ramirez D.F., Fountains as sound elements in the design of urban public walks soundscapes, In Proc. 22nd Int. Congr. Acoust.: Sound-scape, Psychoacoust. Urban Environ., ICA, 2016, 2016-2065.Search in Google Scholar
[16] A.Hyvarinen, J.Karhunen, E.Oja, Independent Component Analysis, (Wiley, New York, 2001).10.1002/0471221317Search in Google Scholar
[17] R. Lu et al., Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding, Lancet, 2020, 395(10224), 565-574.Search in Google Scholar
[18] Magrone P., Tedeschini Lalli L., Mathematics and the documentation of intangible cultural heritage: the sound of Trevi fountain in Rome,Proceedings Aplimat 2019, Slovak University Of Technology Bratislava, 18th Conf. Appl. Math., 2019, 2, 772-781.Search in Google Scholar
[19] Muller G., Moser M. (ed): Handbook of Engineering Acoustics. Springer, Berlin, 2013.Search in Google Scholar
[20] Poli P., Boaga J., Molinari I., Cascone V., Boschi L., The 2020 coronavirus lockdown and seismic monitoring of anthropic activities in Northern Italy, Sci. Rep., 2020, 10(1), 1-8.10.1038/s41598-020-66368-0Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central
[21] Schafer R.M., The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment And The Tuning Of The World, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 1977.Search in Google Scholar
[22] Tedeschini Lalli L., Mappatura Sonica di una area romana In G. Giuriati and L. Tedeschini Lalli Eds, Spazi Sonori Della Musica, Palermo, L’epos, 2010, 135-148.Search in Google Scholar
[23] Tedeschini Lalli L., Sound surveys in the Historic District in Rome, Urbanistica, 2014, 153, 141-143.Search in Google Scholar
[24] Tedeschini Lalli L., Magrone P., The Listening of two Piazzas in Rome, Noise Mapp., 2018, 5(1), 86-103.10.1515/noise-2018-0007Search in Google Scholar
[25] Vaseghi S.V., Advanced signal processing and digital noise reduction, John Wiley and Sons Inc. 1996.10.1007/978-3-322-92773-6Search in Google Scholar
[26] Yang W., Kang J., Soundscape and Sound Preferences in Urban Squares: A Case Study in Sheffield, J. Urban Des., 2005, 10, 61-80.10.1080/13574800500062395Search in Google Scholar
© 2020 Enza De Lauro et al., published by De Gruyter
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
